Time for a change in police use of force

This major paper examines police use of force and provides a historical review of the force options available to police in British Columbia. Subject Behavior Officer Response forms over five years, from 2014 to 2018 from five small to mid-size municipal police departments from the Lower Mainland area of Vancouver, British Columbia were examined. The data was analyzed to provide an overview of the force options used by police. Based on the data analysis from these forms, police agencies could limit the amount of equipment on their duty belts, focus future use of force programs and training, and implement use of force tools and techniques that have a better chance of keeping both the officers and subjects safe. This major paper concludes with recommendations for future police training, as well as for improving the data collection of police use of force incidents.